The Traveler's Portal

Time has passed fast,

Yet it kept me awake

Constantly living that moment,

That spark of eternity,

That ray of glowing sunshine,

Luminous and delightful as the bluebell

Photographed by a pair of big, earthy eyes,

Kept alive on the surface of my retina,

Along neuronal pathways,

Planted like a sunflower seed

Deep inside my consciousness,

Flourishing and thriving,

Sweet as a lavender mousse.

So if the memory of our first encounter

Is delicate as a jasmine flower,

Or mesmerising as a sunset hibiscus,

You, my beloved, are the Rose of Venus

As Aphrodite dances around Gaia,

Leaving traces of red jasper petals,

Keeping us on the path to greater love-

So do you.

As the pure ones walk through the Garden of Eden,

Or as Iris brings the majestic rainbow

As a messenger of the gods,

Growing straight along its path to wisdom,

Bringing strength and boldness

To those who are blessed enough to see

So do you.

Cruel Cronos engraved me early,

not with gentleness,

but by hands of shadows

who mistook my springtime figure

for silence,

who thought my tears were seeds easily buried.

I was a sanctuary of lilies,

crushed before the bloom,

a jasmine bruised by shadows,

an innocent violet forced into stone.

Their voices were storms,

their laughter-chains of iron,

and I, too petite to fight,

learned the language of fear.

Yet within me, a sunflower spark

refusing to give up its soul,

rooted itself deeper,

drinking light even from darkness,

whispering: you are more than their hands,

you are more than their cruelty.

So I rose, piece by piece,

a wounded Rose of Venus,

crowned not by shame,

but by the fire of endurance.

Where they carved burning scars,

I carved flourishing constellations.

Where they plucked petals,

I grew wings of lavender and flame.

Now my voice is the garden restored:

not silent,

not broken,

but alive

a testament that innocence stolen

is not innocence lost,

that even from the deepest, darkest wound,

a sunflower can rise

and teach the world

what it means

to see, to feel,

and yet not become a shadow itself.

Dear gentle reader,

Beneath the pale moonlight,

I have entered your dreams

and whispered softly

the legend of soul ties.

Slowly, you step beside me.

Hungry eyes gather in the distance.

The reality swallowing us whole

is nothing but a forgotten battlefield.

Your razor-sharp gaze is captured.

There, among dozens of rotting corpses,

stand two figures suspended in silence,

like the final pillars of a fallen temple.

The first— a broken priest.

Wounded, endlessly praying,

his trembling hands, his crooked fingers,

still searching for a fragment of mercy.

The second— a gentle demon.

Waves of warmth orbit around her.

Her sapphire eyes remain fixed upon the horizon,

calmly gazing into the endless dark.

You see them, don't you?

Remain still.

Obedience is the key.

Watch closely,

for what you are about to witness

will unsettle the deepest parts of your soul.

She senses the priest's sorrow

rising above the dead surrounding him.

His misery speaks louder than words.

"Take my hand," she whispers.

"Drink from my waters.

You have exhausted your strength

for far too long."

"My fair lady... my endless cup of hope...

How could a poor soul like mine

ever deserve to reach you?"

Like distant constellations,

their paths collide.

He drinks fiercely from the source of her light,

while she willingly holds him close,

believing compassion alone

can heal what time could not.

"How can this be?

Have I become blind

or simply mad?"

"Silence.

Ask yourself what you're truly seeing.

The truth stands before us.

It is only hidden

from those unwilling to look."

What feels like thousands of years pass.

The priest and the demon

begin studying one another.

One— cold as forged steel,

calculating,

entirely ruled by the mind.

The other— guided by razor-sharp intuition,

profound empathy,

and quiet emotional wisdom.

Again and again,

the priest manipulates, betrays, wounds,

engraving new scars into her soul.

Again and again,

the demon forgives.

Once. Twice.

Until—

something clicks.

The pattern reveals itself.

The spell dissolves.

She stands perfectly still,

frozen in time, calculating,

without anger, without reaction.

Holding every advantage,

she prepares her departure

in absolute silence.

She could have struck him down.

She could have carved wounds

deeper than those he had ever known.

But she finally understands.

This is no wounded soul.

This is a predator.

Her sapphire eyes become crystal clear.

And then—

she goes supernova.

The script shatters.

The roles reverse.

For the first time,

the priest chokes on fear.

He was clever.

Subtle as a serpent.

Yet painfully predictable.

She had always seen beyond the mask.

She understood him

better than he understood himself.

For the depth of her empathy

could only exist

because it mirrored

the depth of her own darkness.

And his downfall

would become far worse than hell.

"He searched for golden nectar,

yet stumbled upon an unknown creature."

The dead begin to vanish,

laughing into the wind.

The battlefield collapses

into an endless abyss,

opening its ancient mouth.

"Poor little priest...

At last,

you have shaken hands

with your karmic mirror."

They descend not wearing velvet robes

stitched from honest stars,

but garments woven

from borrowed halos,

perfumed with white lilies

that never knew their roots.

They speak of stillness

as though silence were a temple;

of gentleness

as though mercy were a language

their sweetened tongues remembered.

They sell the purest serenity

like merchants beneath eclipses,

placing peace

upon polished altars,

asking only

for another soul to kneel.

Do not mistake

the absence of thunder

for the absence of venom.

Some serpents

have learned

to hiss between prayers.

Some abysses

have memorized

the vocabulary of light.

Beneath their gardens

grow neither jasmine nor magnolia

only moonlit pitcher plants,

their chalices open,

sweet with impossible nectar,

waiting for exhausted butterflies

who mistook hunger

for kindness.

There,

the blossoms bloom inward.

Petals become sharp teeth.

Fragrance becomes slow-wave sleep.

Roots become shackles,

coiling around ankles

too hopeful

to question beauty.

They preach stoicism,

yet harvest every trembling heart.

They praise compassion,

yet count mercy

only when it is bleeding.

They glorify forgiveness,

because forgiven wounds

are easier to reopen.

I have seen them—

keepers of immaculate orchards,

watering white roses

with borrowed sunlight,

while beneath the soil

countless sunflower corpses

lie hollow,

their gold devoured

to adorn another mask.

They call themselves shepherds.

Yet wolves have always known

how to imitate

the patience of snowfall.

The oldest predator

is not rage,

it is tenderness

performed

without a soul behind it.

In the deepest caverns,

where no dawn enters,

the ancient serpents

shed not their skin,

but their faces.

Each new smile

another immaculate prophecy.

Each embrace

another silent eclipse.

And those

who truly carry light

never ask

to be worshipped.

They bloom quietly,

like wild chamomile

between forgotten stones,

asking nothing

except stillness.

For real gardens

never hunger

for the sunflowers

that seek shelter.

Only carnivorous flowers

measure love

by what remains

after the petals

have disappeared.

So when they speak

of peace,

look beneath their roots.

When they preach

stillness,

listen for the bones

buried beneath the moss.

And when they promise

to save your sugared soul,

watch,

whether their shadows

lean toward your light,

or away from it.

For the oldest false prophet

was never the loudest.

He whispered

like rain upon marble,

held out

a blossom without scent,

and smiled

while somewhere,

far beneath the earth,

the abyss

opened its mouth

like a flower trap.

It happened on one blue day

when my petals were bruised,

and my spirit almost hung itself,

no longer bearing the weight

of being an immortal light source

in a time of forgotten prayers.

I was nearly weeping

not in storms that swallow the world around me,

but in the language of scorpion grasses at dusk

soft, bowed, barely blooming.

He came like a gentle comet,

not as a man,

but as the guiding Hermes

a smile, soft as sacred crocuses,

carrying no judgment,

emerging from a cold land,

gently touching the unopened bud

of my fragile sorrow,

just to remind me:

someone still sees.

Then came the embrace

two arms wrapped around

like vines of honeysuckle

entwining the walls of my cold cathedral of solitude

with warmth and grace:

a tulip and hyacinth embroidery.

I did not flee from that sacred place,

not because I forgot Eros,

but because I remembered Persephone,

longing for the sun,

wandering through labyrinths of wonder

even in Hades' hasty gentleness.

But guilt arrived

on a shocking wave of pain,

measuring the weight of my heart

against a moment I did not ask for

nor did I deserve it,

yet I allowed it.

Not ashamed for desiring a mortal feeling,

but for that pale flicker of bloom

that rose inside my crimson heart

and dared to face the sun.

Yet even so,

I crossed no sacred boundary,

and kept my faith to Hera's vows

my trembling hand bore no corruption,

only the scent of oleander.

Now I return

to the sacred garden I tend with care,

to the altar of my chosen love,

where trust grows like lavender

at the gates of devotion.

He saw me unguarded,

but I see myself whole again

a celestial being reborn beneath the stars:

not untrue or disloyal,

only open,

only tender,

only alive.

There comes a time of year

When the grand bargain begins,

Not on the streets filled with vitality,

But in the shadows of the necropolis.

That time when the Four O'Clock flower breaks,

Shattered glass strewn across morality,

Violins echoing through chrysanthemums—

An entire ballad of the false prophets.

And in such a dreadful realm,

The White Dahlia enters with petals shrinking,

Trembling as the winds begin to embrace her.

Two pairs of eyes seize her gaze:

One's Deadly Nightshade,

the other's Devil's Hand.

One is there to devour her soul;

The other to protect and shield her:

Unfortunately, all entities wear masks.

What gleams is venom,

What offers refuge seems lethal.

The first waltz with the broken,

virtuous entity Unfolds in darkness,

Flowers shivering in the aura that surrounds him.

Warnings drip from his affection;

Her vitality seeps into his mask.

The long, agonizing sway ends in tears.

The second dance with the wicked one

Casts beams of pearly light across the floor,

Flickers of hope and sparks tangled in mysterious smiles.

Tiny, precise steps lure her core into an abyss.

She blooms once more

Only to be severed again with the final sigh of her stamina.

What happened to them, you might ask?

Devil's Hand betrays his loving core, vanishing into obscurity.

White Dahlia, dripping tears of blood, continues to bloom

Brighter, fiercer than ever.

Deadly Nightshade aches still,

Hunting those ruby tears with insatiable hunger:

One astray, one reaching the focal point, one hollow within its own elegance.

ALGORITM INTERIOR

Dimineața se încarcă lent,

ca o aplicație veche.

gândurile apar pe rând,

fără notificări,

fără martori.

Algoritmul știe ce îmi place,

dar nu știe ce visez.

Îmi oferă  imagini,

sunete,

versiuni ale fericirii

care nu mă includ.

Între două gesturi automate

învăț să aleg:

o tăcere,

o privire neînregistrată,

un pas în afara fluxului.

Seara, închid ecranul

ca pe o ușă subțire.

Rămâne în mine

ce nu poate fi salvat:

o viață

care nu se repetă.

Te caut în noapte și nu te găsesc

Ești doar o lumină ce stinge o rază,

Din tot ce-am iubit și tot ce trăiesc,

A mai rămas o inimă trează.

Vorbesc cu cerul și cu tăceri,

Răspunsul tău e doar o sclipire,

Un simplu „acum” lipsit de „ieri”,

O rece și lentă despărțire.

Privesc spre boltă și strig în zadar,

Ești doar un ecou ce piere în zare,

Din tot ce-am fost a rămas un amar,

O lungă și mută plecare.

Doamne, cum să-Ți vorbesc,

Când limba mea e arsă de păcat,

Și rugăciunea se frânge în gâtul meu

Ca o pasăre rănită ce nu mai poate cânta?

Mă tem de rugă, cum se teme noroiul de cer,

Cum se teme umbra de zi.

Nevrednic sunt să stau înaintea Ta,

Căci gândul meu adesea Te-a uitat,

Și pașii mei s-au rătăcit în mândrie.

Dar unde să mă duc, Doamne,

Dacă nu spre Tine?

Cine să mă asculte în ruina inimii mele,

Dacă nu Tu, Cel ce cunoști lacrima dinainte s-o plâng?

Primește-mi teama ca pe o ofrandă,

Și nevrednicia mea ca pe o rugă în taină.

Nu am cununi, nu am jertfe curate,

Dar vin cu inima sfărâmată —

Și poate, în zdrobirea ei, vei vedea chipul Tău.

Dacă taci, mă învăț cu tăcerea.

Dacă mustri, primesc.

Dar dacă, Doamne, mă auzi,

Atunci iartă-mi îndrăzneala de a Te căuta.

Căci, chiar nevrednic,

Tot spre Tine suspin.

În loc de inimă am scrum

Și am realizat asta

Când mi-ai spus 

Că trebuie să mă îndepărtez.

Scrumul a început să ardă

Iar eu mă tot apropiam

Până o cascadă de lacrimi

A ajuns în locul inimi

Și a rămas doar scrum din nou.

Ai fost ceva fantastic,

Ceva de necrezut

Așa că mă apropii iarăși 

Să simt foc, nu doar scrum,

Însă pe zi ce trece scrumul dispare,

Focul nu se mai aprinde,

Inima nu mai este

Și cascada a secat.

Tu ai plecat și nu te mai întorci

Deci..ce fac eu fără focul tău?

Ce fac eu aici defapt

Când tu esti departe iar?

În loc de inima am un gol.

Unde ești când am nevoie de brațul tău?

Vino înapoi și nu mai îmi da drumul

Am nevoie de tine și de focul tău.

Îmi e frig,

Vino și încălzește-mă 

Cu focul ce arde în inima ta.

Cineva m-a întrebat demult

Cum a fost copilăria mea?

M-am gândit mult să-i răspund

Și apoi am spus cuvântul..grea

S-a uitat mirat și lung la mine

Făr' a crede că ce zic e-adevărat,

Era mic copil, nimic nu îî lipsea

Nici că timpul multe a schimbat

Atunci în brațe l-am luat cu drag

Și-am povestit despre copilărie,

Ce-a fost frumos și greu în viață

Și cum s-a trăit în multă sărăcie

N-avea de und' să știe ce a fost

Că s-a născut în anul nouăzeci,

Când s-a murit pentru democrație

Iar tirania comunistă ,,rasă-n" veci

Acum ați înțeles cine a întrebat

Dorind să afle de a mea copilărie,

El este fiul nostru binecuvântat

Un dar dat mie..de-a mea Mărie!

Târziu este, copile, plânsul tãu,

Târzii sunt şi pãrerile de rãu!

E prea târziu s-aduci un trandafir

Sãdindu-l lângã cruce-n cimitir!...

E prea târziu acuma sã mai plângi,

Ferindu-ţi ochii-n palma mâinii stângi!

Cu graiul stins, cu-amar, mâhnit de tot,

Aş plânge-n rând cu tine...sã mai pot.

Nu pot nici sã te-aud, nici sã-ţi rãspund...

Dar toatã viaţa m-ai rãnit profund:

La bal, la reuniuni sau la "boutique"

Când te duceai fãrã sã-mi zici nimic.

Dar... în sfârşit, e grea durerea ta

Şi multã vreme-o vei simţi aşa!

Nu doare lutul biciuit de ploi,

Cât ne dor remuşcãrile din noi!

                          ☆

Tu nu ai timp, cât ai dori sã ai,

Nici rost, nici sentimente şi nici grai!

Când nu ai fost ce-ai fi putut sã fii,

Când toate trec, rãmân lacrimi târzii!...